City Center Investment Corp. has begun taking deposits for the first luxury apartment complex slated to open in Allentown's Neighborhood Improvement Zone.

The $30 million apartments, now named Strata Luxury Flats at Four City Center, are under construction at the corner of Linden and Seventh streets, adjacent to the city's new PPL Center Arena. Amenities in the building, which will offer 170 one- and two-bedroom units, will include a courtyard, yoga studio and enclosed fitness area. Units will cost $1,000 to $1,200 per month.

Developer J.B. Reilly said Monday that the apartments will help to create the "live, work, play" atmosphere necessary to revive Allentown's urban core.

"We will put people in the middle of the excitement," he said.

Reilly said there have already been dozens of inquiries made about the apartments. City Center has begun taking $100 refundable deposits to give future residents priority in choosing an apartment. Leases will not be signed until later this year, he said.

EMILY OPILO, THE MORNING CALL

Renderings hanging at Seventh and Linden streets in Allentown depict Strata Luxury Flats at Four City Center, the first new apartment complex slated to open in the city's Neighborhood Improvement Zone.

Renderings hanging at Seventh and Linden streets in Allentown depict Strata Luxury Flats at Four City Center, the first new apartment complex slated to open in the city's Neighborhood Improvement Zone. (EMILY OPILO, THE MORNING CALL)

Strata will be the first apartments to open in the city's Neighborhood Improvement Zone, a unique state-established designation that allows developers to finance projects with state and local tax dollars. While many commercial projects are now underway or open in the zone, few residential proposals have been floated for the NIZ because the zone favors projects that create a larger number of jobs.

But residents, particularly those with expendable income, are a vital part of a downtown. Mayor Ed Pawlowski said mixed use buildings like Strata can create jobs despite being largely residential properties. Strata will have about 10 restaurant and retail spaces on the ground floor.

Renderings hanging at Seventh and Linden streets in Allentown depict Strata Luxury Flats at Four City Center, the first new apartment complex slated to open in the city's Neighborhood Improvement Zone.

Renderings hanging at Seventh and Linden streets in Allentown depict Strata Luxury Flats at Four City Center, the first new apartment complex slated to open in the city's Neighborhood Improvement Zone.

More residential proposals are also on the way both inside and outside the NIZ, Pawlowski said. The new parking garage slated for the corner of Sixth and Walnut streets will be built to allow for future residential construction on the same site, offering another 70 to 100 units, he said.

"There is a real market for it, as young people and empty nesters move into cities," Pawlowski said.